Excavating-wheel



' H. 8. BROWN. EXCAVATING WHEEL. APPLICATION FILED Amie. 1920.

Patented Aug. 9,1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

I avwwtoz Howard $.Brown Witness H. S. BROWN.

EXCAVATING WHEEL. APPLICATION FILED Aue.19. 19.20.

Patented Aug. 9, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

' abtdm cqo res HOWARD S. BROWN, 0F OASIS, UTAH, ASSIGNOB TO PAWLING ANfDI-IARNISCHFEG-ER- COMPANY, OF WEST MILWAUKTEE. WISCONSIN, A CORPORATION OF WISGONSTN.

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Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Aug. 9, 1921.

Application filed August 19, 1920. Serial No. 404,505.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HOWARD S. BROWN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Oasis, in the county of Millard and State of Utah, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Excavating-Wheels; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to an improved excavating wheel for use in digging ditches and one object of the invention is to provide an excavating wheel with an improved type of bucket including sections movablymounted for movement into and out of an operative position as the wheel rotates.

Another object of the invention is to so construct the bucket that the movable por-' tions thereof may include the digging or cutting elements and a bottom for the bucket, pressure upon the digging or cutting elements during the filling of the bucket serving to retain the bottom in an operative position.

Another object of the inventionis to provide an improved type of scraper or cleanin late for removin the contents of the b p b bucket when the bucket is in a position for emptying.

Another object of the invention is to provide improved means for swinging the bucket bottoms out of operative position thus permitting them to clear and pass-the scraper or cleaning plate.

Another object of the invention is to so construct'the wheel that the cleaning plate may extend between the siderings of the wheel, the cam bar for raising the bottom of the buckets being positioned between the side rings of the wheel andhaving one end connected with the cleaning plate and the other end connected with an arcuate strip positioned between the side rings of the wheel and forming a bucket wall during rotation of the wheel. j

Another object of the invention isto so construct the improved wheel that a conventional construction of excavating wheel can be readily converted into the improved construction. I

This invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a view in side elevation showrotates.

proved bucket and cleaning mechanism in end elevation. V

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line L-4 of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the pivotally mounted section of the bucket.

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of thecleaning blade and cam bar carried thereby.

Fig. 7 is a vertical section on line 7-7 of Fig.6. 1 This improved excavating wheel is used in connection with an excavating machine of the type disclosed in the Patent No. 891,000 issued June 16, 1908, and including a frame having side bars 1 which support hanger frames 2. Supporting rollers 8 are carried by the hanger frames 2 and driving pinions- 4: are provided and rotatably mounted by means'of a shaft 5. sprocket 6 is mount-.- ed upon this shaft and engaged by a sprocket chain 7 so that the shaft 5 and pinions & may

be rotated from a suitable source of power.-

The wheel is provided with side rings 8* which are positioned between the sidebarsl and about the hanger frames 2 and are provided with teeth 8 for engagement by the sprockets 4. It will thus be seen that when the shaft 5 is rotated, the rings Swill be rotatedJ The buckets are positioned about thevwheel as shown, and-will have outer and side walls, the walls referred to of each bucket being formed from'a strip 9 of metal which is secured to the side rings andis curved transversely between'the rings}. An arcuate strip 10 is connected with the-hanger frames by supports 11, and is positioned adjacent the inner edges of the rings 8, thus forming an inner wall for the buckets as the wheel It willthus be seen that when a bucket is .in the position-shown at the left of Fig. '1, the transversely curved strip 9 will formthe outer wall which merges into the side walls, the side walls being partly formed by the rings 8.. This strip 10 ex tends frorna point adjacent the lower side of the wheel'to a point above the hopper 12 beneath which is mounted the endless c0n-' veyer; 13. This endless conveyer extends transverselyo'f the Wheel and will receive the material *arried upwardly by the bucket. In the present illustration, the wheel has been shown with four buckets, but it is to be understood that a wheel may be provided with any suitable number of buckets according to the size of the wheel.

A cleaning plate or blade 14: is secured to the hopper or conveyor frame and extends upwardly between the side rings 8 of tie wheel to a point above the wheel, as shown in Fig. 1, thusproviding a device over which the buckets will pass as the wheel rotates and which will remove clay, mud or other material therefrom.

Each bucket has a movable bottom, end plate or wall 15, provided with arms 16 which extend forwardly beyond the front end of the bucket and are pivoted to the blades 17. The blades 1.? are secured to the rings 8 and have sharpened edges to truly and smoothly out the sides of a ditch. A curved strip 18, secured to the arms 16 adjacent the blades 17 and provided with teeth 19 constitutes a digging or cutting element at the forward or advance end of each bucket.

When this device is in use, the wheel extends into the ditch or trench which is being formed and rotates with the buckets moving upwardly out o1 the ditch in engagement with the end of the ditch. As they move upwardly, the teeth 19 engage the end wall of the ditch and out the earth from the same. This earth'will fall into the buckets and will be held therein by the strip 9 forming the outer and side walls, the arcuate strip 10 forming an inner wall, and the bottom 15.

It should be noted that the pressure upon the teeth during the cutting process operates to swing the arms 16 inwardly, and therefore the bottom 15 will be securely held in an operative position. When the bucket moves to a position beyond the upper end of the arcuate strip 10 to a position above the hopper 12 and endless conveyer, it is desired to have the bottom 15 move to a raised or inoperative position thus permitting the cleaning plate 1 1 as the bucketmoves over it, to scrape the contents out of the same, so that the earth or other material filling the bucket,

'wil drop into the hopper and upon the endless conveyer. Therefore, a curved bar, strip or element 20 which forms a cam, is positioned as shown .1 F 1g. 1 with one end secured to the upper end portion of the strip.

10 and the other end portion connected with the upper end of the plate 14% and extending beyond the same a short distance. The'bottom 15 engages this cam bar and as the wheel rotates the bottom side bars 16, carrying the bottom, will be swung upwardly to a raised position, thus permitting the bucket to pass the plate 1 1 and the bottom to clear the plate. The contents of the bucket will "thus be scraped therefrom and will drop upon the endless conveyor. As soon as the bucket has passed beyond the end of the cam bar, the weight of the bottom will cause the arms to swing down to the original position and the bucket is again in an operative position. it will thus be seen that as the wheel rotates the earth will be dug from the end of the trench or ditch, and further, the blades 17 will serve to cut the side walls of the trench, thus producing a trench which will be of an even width throughout its length and depth.

1 claim:

1. it trench diggin wheel having spaced side rings, a support Ior rotatably mounting the wheel including rollers engaging said rings, an arcuate strip carried by the support and positioned to one side of the wheel adjacent the inner peripheries of the rings and extending from a point adjacent the lower end of the support to a point above the upper end thereof, a conveyer extend-- ing transversely ofthe wheel above the support and within thev wheel, open ended buckets carried by the wheel and connected with the rings and spanning the space be tween the same, cutting blades carried by the rings in advance of the open-ended buckets, bottoms for the buckets, arms extending from the bottoms and connected with the cutting blades to mount the bottoms for swinging movement into and out ofan operative position, strips carried by the arms between the buckets and cutting blades and having cutting teeth, a scraping blade extending above the conveyor for passing through the bucket as the wheel rotates, and a strip connected with the arcuate strip and extending above the conveyor and connected with the upper end portion or" the scraping blade and constituting a cam for engaging the bottoms of the buckets and swinging the same upwardly out of engagement with the scraping blade as the wheel rotates.

2. A digging wheel of the character described comprising side rings positioned in spaced relation, a support for the wheel including rollers having engagement with the inner peripheries of the side rings, a conveyer structure extending through the upper portion of the wheel beneath the a scraping blade carried by the con'veyer structure and extending between the side rings, an arcuate strip carried by the support to one side thereof, a cam strip having side rings,

one end connected with the arcuate strip and the other end portion with the upper part of the scraping blade, buckets carried by the side. rings and open at their ends, cuttingblades carried by the side rings, end plates for the buckets having side arms extending upon opposite sides of the buckets and connected with the cutting blades for swinging movement, and cutting strips carried by the side arms and positioned between the cutting blades of the side rings and the 'open for ward ends of the buckets.

3. In a structure of the character described, a wheel rotatably mounted and having side rings positioned in spaced relation, an arcuate strip extending circumferentially of the wheel adjacent the inner peripheries of the side rings, open-ended buckets carriedby the side rings, a bottom plate for each bucket, arms extending from the bottom plates and pivotally mounted for swinging movement of said plates, a scraping blade extending between the side rings in the path of the bucket, and a cam strip extending circumferentially of the wheel between the side rings for engaging the bottom plates and moving them to a raised position as they pass the scraping blade.

4. In an excavating device of the character described, a supporting structure, a wheel rotatably carried by the supporting structure and including side rings in spaced relation, a scraping blade extending between the rings, a cam strip extending circumferentially of the wheel from the scraping blades between the side rings, an openended bucket carried by the side rings, cutting blades carried by the side rings in advance of the open-ended bucket, and a bottom plate for the rear end of the bucket having side arms pivotally connected with the cutting blades for swinging movement of said plates, the cam strip engaging the bottom plate and moving the same upwardly to clear and pass the scraping blades as the wheel rotates.

7 5. An excavating device including asupport, a wheel rotatably carried by the support, an open-ended bucket carried by the wheel, a scraping blade over which the bucket passesas the wheel rotates, a cam ele-:

wheel, open-ended buckets carried by the wheel, a scraper over which the buckets pass as the wheel rotates, a cam, and bottom plates for the rear ends of the buckets mounted for swinging movement into and out of an operative position, the cam adapted to move the bottom plates into position to clear and pass the scraper as the wheel rotates. y

7 An excavating device including a rotatable wheel, open-ended buckets carried by the wheel, a bottom plate for each bucket,

arms pivotally connecting the bottom plates with the wheel, and cutting blades carried by the arms in advance of the buckets.

In testimony whereof have hereunto set 111 hand. y c HOWARD S. BROWN. 

